“The Advent of our God, Shall be our theme for prayer; Come, let us meet him on the road, And place for him prepare.” (“The Advent of Our God, LW #12, vs.1)

We sang this Advent hymn at our Lessons and Carols service, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since, especially the part about meeting Jesus on the road. What does that mean? Isn’t Advent about waiting for Him?

Waiting reminds me of a party I had, and how the guests were late – really late. I wasn’t waiting very patiently that night, or very compassionately as the food went from cooked to overcooked.

What if I invited my neighbors over for dinner, then walked down the road to their house early in anticipation of their coming, knocked on their door and told them how eager I was to welcome them into my home?

They might think it unusual. But they would also know that they meant a lot to me.

Roads make me think of two of my favorite Bible stories.

In the parable of the lost (or prodigal) son (Luke 15:11-32), the father spotted his son while he was still a distance away, walking back home, disgraced and truly sorry. I don’t know if the son was walking on a road, or just through the grass, but I like to imagine that he was. How long and hard that road must have seemed, as he wondered what kind of reception he would get! But what did his father do? He ran out with compassion to meet him.

In the other parable, the Good Samaritan stopped along the road to help someone in need, after others had passed by on the other side. Did you ever wonder where the Samaritan was going? My guess is that he was on his way to something really important and he didn’t have a moment to spare, so that the choice to stop and help the injured man lying there was a really hard one. (Isn’t that how it always is?) The Samaritan stopped, bandaged the man, helped him to an inn and cared for him there for a day. The next day he paid the innkeeper to care for the injured man until he was well, and promised to come back to pay any additional expenses. Highly unusual, wouldn’t you say? To do that much for someone he didn’t even know?

“Go and do likewise,” Jesus said. (Luke 10:37) Note the word “Go”!

Forgiving someone, as we ourselves have been forgiven, is like going out and meeting Jesus on the road. So is helping someone in need (especially when you don’t have the time). These are active ways of waiting for our Lord and Savior, which we can do in Advent and any other time of the year.

The Lord used a handful of Christians, showing some unusual kindness to me at different times in my teen and young adult years, to lead me to His Church. They met me on the road. They were like a pattern of Someone greater, who I would recognize in amazement later because of what He had done for me through them.

God has shown us all the most unusual and undeserved kindness! He sent His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the light of our lives, to give up everything – His own precious life – so that we could be forgiven of all our sins and be with Him for all eternity!

The larger community will be gathering on the main street in town again this Christmas Eve to sing around the tree. What will they think when we meet them there with hot chocolate and cider? They’re probably going to think it’s a bit different from the usual, but won’t they also know that we care?

After seeing a great movie in the theater, I like to rent it at home and watch it again (and again), especially the high impact scenes. I love being able to focus in, selecting a particular point in the movie and pressing “Play”.

Reading the Bible is sort of like that. Take the chapter about the woman at the well, for instance. Though we know only a little about this woman’s life before or after she met Jesus, when we open to John 4, and begin reading at that point, one scene of her life ‘replays’ for us.

It is the scene of highest impact in her life, when Jesus tells her all she has ever done (John 4:17-19, 29) and when He speaks to her about “living water” that will quench her spiritual thirst forever (vs. 4:13-14). It is the scene where she reveals to Him her hope (“I know that Messiah…is coming”) and where He reveals to her that He is already there (“I who speak to you am he“) (vs. 4:25, 26).

It’s so powerful, so intense. I have to keep reminding myself that it isn’t just a dramatic scene, like in a movie. It’s real. It really happened.

At one distinct point in time and space, Jesus came to a Samaritan woman drawing water from a well and spoke to her about forgiveness and salvation in Him, revealing God’s great love for her. He saw her life stretched out before Him, and He intersected it at a carefully chosen point.

And today we can meet up with them both at that point, again and again, in God’s Living Word. In the Word we can ‘replay’ scenes in the lives of people whose lives intersect with ours at the same point – Jesus.

We all long to be seen and loved. We long for meaning and purpose in our lives. I think that’s why we watch movies, to intersect with characters who are also longing for these things.

All of our longings find fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who sees us and loves us, and who at one crucial point in human history gave up his life for us, dying on the Cross for our sins, and then rose again to life, so that we can be forgiven and live forever with Him!

It’s interesting that Jesus revealed Himself to the woman while He was alone with her at the well (the disciples had gone off to buy food). Jesus also revealed himself in personal conversations with Nicodemus (John 3:13-16), with the man born blind (John 9:35-38) and, even more powerfully, with Martha: “…I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die…” (John 11:25-27).

“Do you believe this?” Jesus asked Martha. “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

It’s in our personal time with Him that Jesus says to us “I am He” and we say to Him “I believe, Lord”.